The city of Helotes wants to grow, but it's landlocked. So it's fighting to take the San Antonio Ranch subdivision, an unincorporated territory just west of Texas 16, from the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of San Antonio. The residents of the subdivision have been pushing for this change since 2008.

But the city of San Antonio, which has stayed out of the annexation game for years, is the neurotically possessive ex-boyfriend in this scenario: It doesn't want these small unincorporated territories for itself but doesn't necessarily like the idea of anyone else having them either.

Well, no one saw this coming, but it looks like David just might have some leverage on Goliath.

State Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, has made a habit of challenging San Antonio on its anti-annexation stance, largely because Bexar County finds itself scrambling to provide services that its revenue base can't accommodate. (Keep in mind that San Antonio pockets an estimated $38 million in annual CPS Energy revenue from unincorporated areas and shares none of that with the county.)

This year, Larson filed long-shot legislation aimed at forcing the city to consolidate its government with the county, and he's about to bring a bill to the House floor that would enable Helotes to claim the San Antonio Ranch subdivision without having to get the consent of the city of San Antonio.

San Antonio city leaders opposed Larson's bill from the get-go, largely because they thought it would set a bad precedent that would embolden the likes of Fair Oaks Ranch and Von Ormy to make similar moves.

Given such opposition, the bill's prospects looked dim going in, but persuasive testimony from Helotes Mayor Tom Schoolcraft helped propel the legislation out of the House's Land & Resource Management Committee.

On Friday, Schoolcraft also suggested an amendment to the bill that would limit it to towns with populations ranging from 5,500-7,500 (essentially bracketing the bill to Helotes).

It's set for a full House vote April 22, but Larson said he'd be willing to pull down the bill if Schoolcraft and San Antonio City Manager Sheryl Sculley can work out a compromise that would allow Helotes to bring San Antonio Ranch into its ETJ.

On that front, Schoolcraft said he's open to discussion but not optimistic that a deal can be reached.

Segovia backs Viagran

One of the big selling points for Rebecca Viagran's council campaign in District 3 has been that all of the past five council members in the district support her.

Well, it turns out that Viagran can claim a perfect five for five because Segovia definitely is on board with her candidacy.

Contacted at work Thursday, Segovia said he only recent met Viagran but has known her family for years. He said he's tried to “lay low” on the political scene in recent years but became concerned about what he viewed as a lack of accessibility from Ozuna.

A footnote to the endorsement issue: Segovia said he has received several phone calls from Ozuna's office, with the intent of getting Ozuna and Segovia together for a discussion.

Nothing has come of it, but Segovia said that during a recent visit to Louisiana, he received a call from one of his associates, saying that Ozuna was waiting for him at a San Antonio Starbucks. It was all news to him.